Conventionally, IC chips are transferred to a pre-mount process while stored as a wafer in a wafer storage case or accommodated in recesses of a tray after being taken out of the wafer. In the pre-mount process, bumps are formed to the IC chips taken outside one by one from the wafer or tray, the heights of the bumps are leveled, the formation of the bumps is inspected, and finally the IC chips are returned to the wafer storage case or tray to be transferred to a mount process. Again the IC chips are sequentially taken out one by one from the wafer storage case or tray and mounted to a board in the mount process.
In the above-described structure, the IC chips are taken out from the tray, a predetermined pre-mount processing is performed on the IC chip, the IC chips are stored again in the tray or the like, and further caught outside from the tray or the like in the mount process. The IC chips are often damaged when taken out of the tray or returned to the tray. Although the IC chips are naturally easy to damage and, therefore, it is preferable not to touch them, the conventional arrangement requires frequent movement of the IC chips. As such, a method enabling handling of the IC chips without touching them much in the premount process, etc. is necessary.
The present invention is devised to solve the above-described issue, and has for its object to provide a method and an apparatus for mounting IC chips, and a tape-shaped supporting member used in the same. The IC chips can be subjected to a pre-mount process, etc. without being taken out of a storage member up to a mount process.